What's That Smell? BERGAMOT

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Bergamot is a famous perfume component, one of the trustiest top notes around. It's super versatile, pleasant, and well-liked. It's a citrus fruit whose scent lies somewhere between sweet and bitter, with a scent profile that's not as sour as lemon and not as sweet or heavy as orange. In terms of balance, it's probably like a hybrid of the sourness of lime and the sweetness of grapefruit, but it has its own distinctive aroma that isn't exactly either of those, especially as it contains a zesty spicy note that smells more herbaceous than fruity.

Bergamot is used to tame notes that smell strange upon first application, and it dissipates more quickly, revealing heavier notes which have now had time to mature on the skin and become something more pleasant to smell. Bergamot is bright, spicy, sunny note. Imagine the green-spiciness of basil, crossed with the puckering brightness of lime, crossed with a delectable orange, and you have bergamot. If you've ever sniffed or drank Earl Grey tea, bergamot is the addition that makes it stand apart from plain black teas.

Bergamot is all-purpose. It can be used very lightly so as not to overpower delicate florals, but it's hearty enough to stand up to viscous scents like vanilla, or assertive dominant scents like woodsy notes. In small quantities, you'd never notice its presence (but you'd miss it if it were gone!) but in large quantities, it can be lovely and complex. Out of all the citrus fruits, it probably has the most complex and most versatile scent.

Perfumes featuring bergamot:

• NAVA Frangipani Nokturne: Frangipani, plumeria, and lilac are all somewhat heavy, sweet florals that can veer into sickly-sweet territory if not reined in. If you've smelled a tourist shop in Hawai'i, you know what these notes smell like. Bergamot and a light Egyptian musk temper the blend and make it more smooth and palatable. The bergamot isn't apparent as an assertive citrus note, it just lends a fresh green feel that makes this more of a natural jungle scent than a gift shop one.
• NAVA St. Germaine: Bergamot is used literally here, as a modifier to the black tea, to yield the same effect as a real cup of Earl Grey. The smoky tea and the sweet cream are tempered by the bright and spicy bergamot, giving an overall masculine or unisex feel. Although Earl Grey is an expected use of bergamot, it's clear why this is such a popular combination.
• Solstice Scents Edge of the Night (or the Night series in general): In the Night series, Solstice Scents has crafted a traditional Oriental scent with a musk,, resinous, spiced vanilla base and riffed on it. Bergamot is only a small ingredient in the "Night" base, which has a perfectly-melded, indescribably complex scent. Bergamot shows its versatility in these thicker, sweeter fragrances because it "lifts" the notes out of potential heaviness and gives them an ethereal feel they wouldn't have otherwise.

What's That Smell? OSMANTHUS

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Like heliotrope, osmanthus is a flower that doesn't have a traditional floral smell. In fact, osmanthus (sometimes referred to as tea olive) has a distinctive fruity aroma. It smells a lot like peach and apricot. Often, osmanthus is used to blend fruity and floral notes together in a sweet, natural way. Because it straddles the fruity/floral line, it can be used as a mixer to harmonize disparate notes, but it's characteristic and lush on its own when it takes on a starring role.

The scent profile of osmanthus has some very distinctive components, that when blended together, yield a really pleasant and easy-to-like aroma. It contains some of the white floral nuances of jasmine (accounting for its lushness), some creamy apricotty notes that give it a fruity feel, and a touch of a powdery violet-like scent which makes for an inoffensive floral twist. Imagine sliced apricots and peaches, swaddled in light whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar, and you have the essence of osmanthus.

Perfumes featuring osmanthus:

• Cocoa Pink Paper Butterfly: This spring-y fragrance is entirely dedicated to showcasing the distinctive osmanthus scent. Its light, white amber notes underscore the powdery nuances, and the musk and cream complement the silky sweetness. This is a truly enchanting, innocent scent that gives you a great idea of what perfumers love about the osmanthus flower. Please note this is a seasonal fragrance, and is only available in Spring/Summer.
• Solstice Scents Attic: Here, osmanthus attar is used very sparingly to give a hint of sweetness and coziness to a primarily-wood blend. The main components of this scent are cedar and sandalwood, so it's a powerful, hearty scent, but the vanilla and osmanthus add a touch of natural sweetness that pulls it back from being a true lumberjack scent. Unisex.
• Cocoa Pink Faded Memories: In this scent, osmanthus is heady and syrupy, like candied apricot. It mingles with the deep honeyed resin notes of copal and amber and dances with the sweet lush vanilla. It's not tamed or restrained, in fact it's pushed over the top into sweet and vibrant. This can be overpowering in large doses, but applied sparingly it has a wonderfully juicy and complex sweetness.

What's That Smell? HELIOTROPE

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Heliotrope is an odd duck, because while it's a flower, the scent is more like food. To be exact, heliotrope smells like fluffy, powdery almond mixed with syrupy cherries. There's almost a vanilla sweetness there at times. Imagine a flower that smells like cherry pie topped with almonds and marzipan. Hungry yet? Not all heliotrope notes smell like all of these things. Cherries and almonds are a classic scent combo because they share some scent characteristics (a certain sharp "high" fruity note is common to both) so in real life, a heliotrope bush may smell lighter, more like vanilla, more almondy, etc, depending. Heliotrope as a note has a very distinctive smell that does well in sweet, strong floral blends. It's can be adapted to suit aquatic or fresh/green formulations in small quantities.

Perfumes featuring heliotrope:

NAVA Ariadne: Definitely supposed to be a "soliflore" type of perfume highlighting the brazen and unusual heliotrope qualities. This smells like baking with almond extract and canned red cherries. Very sweet, a bit tart and red, and syrupy smooth.

What's That Smell? LINDEN BLOSSOM

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Linden blossom is one of the floral notes you won't find by visiting your local flower shop. Linden is also called "lime blossom." It's a beautifully bright, sunny, sweet, and sharp scent. It's reminiscent of honey, honeysuckle, and grass. As a perfume note, I think it needs to be balanced by deeper or smoother notes, as its honeyed vibes can tip dangerously into cloying or powdery when not used correctly. Used right, it smells like being outdoors in a park on a sunny spring day. It smells juicy, sharp, bright, and very sweet. Although it has a powerful sweetness, the greenish sap nuances make this note versatile, more so than honeysuckle in my opinion, because it can be used as a brightener in masculine blends too.

Perfumes featuring linden blossom: 

• Possets Linden Blossom Tea: Linden is the main note in this perfume, and it's at its most bright and honeyed. This doesn't actually smell like a cup of tea- it smells a bit grassy, green, and syrupy, like the pollen from a flowering tree. This blend really underscores the green vibrancy of linden, which makes the whole scent a bit more unisex. A woman or man could wear this, and it wouldn't be out of place.
• Deconstructing Eden Beloved: This is a more feminine scent, fruity, fluffy, and sweet. The apple and cucumber have a raw, vegetal juiciness that is only made more complex and interesting from the sweet green linden. I love how the linden functions as a fluffy sweet AND a bright green modifier here, because there are no contradictions or jarring combinations here, just seamless fruity-floral harmony.
• Deconstructing Eden Jealousy: Another DE scent, this one is far more masculine and powerful than Beloved. SO incredibly green, this fragrance is wild, jungly, fresh, and herbaceous. There's basil and figs, which have a raw green quality, and the touch of linden sweetens the blend without creating an overpowering floral impression. 

What's That Smell? BENZOIN

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Benzoin is another trusty tree resin (where would perfumery be if tree resins weren't a thing, man?) which has an incredible effect on blends. In its natural form, it's a very thick, viscous resin (it's not pourable at room temp) and it has a light sweetness but is a powerful fixative/base note for any formulation. It's reminiscent of vanilla, but without that characteristic rich, vanilla...thing. To me, it adds a roundness, a sweetness, without actually adding to any sugary or food aspects of a scents. I love benzoin in combination with sweeter scents, because it supervises and herds those flightier notes, complements them, but doesn't add to the mix or make it cloying. 

To me, it is the gentlest and most easy-to-like of all the popular perfume resin notes. It has no characteristic OOMPH or power where you smell it and immediately go, "Yup that's benzoin for ya!" Instead, it has a silky, soft, wraparound quality where it transforms in any scent to add a hint of smoothness that binds all the notes together in an unobtrusive way. If you like lighter amber notes, you will probably also love benzoin. If you like gourmands, but find they get too sticky, look for something with benzoin notes to lend sweetness without being overpowering. If I had to distill it into a few words: it's vanilla without the rich foodieness, and it's a less-sweet version of sugar.

Perfumes featuring benzoin:

• Cocoa Pink Vintage Halloween: In this blend, the benzoin serves to add sweetness and softness to the bright, herbaceous green and ozone/air notes. Benzoin is doing an excellent job of balancing the richness of the vanilla notes so that this doesn't become a BAM vanilla scent.
• NAVA Bastet Amber: This is a classic "skin scent," which gives you an aura of something without explicitly smelling like perfume. The amber and benzoin are both at their lightest, sweetest, and most lingering. You basically can't smell this if you sniff your wrist, but you will find it in the air around you for hours after you apply it.
• Sixteen92 Paper Moon: Peachy vanilla floral could easily turn little-girlish and body-spray like. However, in this blend, benzoin adds a resinous anchor note that plays nice with the lighthearted top notes without joining them. It basically supervises them to keep them from being cloying.

What's That Smell? FRANKINCENSE

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Common companion to myrrh, frankincense is another luscious tree resin that's been in use for centuries. Unlike myrrh and amber notes, which have a sweet character, frankincense is characterized by its freshness. There is quite a bit of variation among frankincense notes. Some skew more green and pine-like. Some are more bright and zesty, almost like lemon. Though it can be used in a variety of ways, I find frankincense to be a unisex/masculine note in general. It has a scent reminiscent of old-fashioned aftershave- a bit fresh and a bit spicy at the same time. Not a warm smell, like other resins. There's a cooling sensation from frankincense that is very soothing- like a cool shower on a sweltering hot night. 

Frankincense does of course have a woodsy-resin tone, as it is a tree resin, but it's not warm or sweet. It's a very stately, elegant, clean scent. I think frankincense is a wonderfully versatile note that most people can enjoy. It has no cloying sweet or heavy vibes, so it's a very likable intro to resinous scents. If you like herbal, green, aquatic, or citrusy perfumes, frankincense is like the grown-up, deeper version of those notes.

To sum it up, frankincense smells like a combination of: citrus, pine, cool water, and soft wood.

Perfumes featuring frankincense:

• Deconstructing Eden Gentian House: This definitely highlights the masculinity of frankincense, while tempering it with softer notes. The lavender and violets lend a lightly floral feel to the elegant gentlemanly cologne of the frankincense and vetiver. A great crossover between incense/resin and fresh scents.
• Haus of Gloi Snow Wolf: Very fresh and bracing, this scent uses the pine-like nature of frankincense as a backup to actual pine/evergreen notes. Instead of smelling thin and fading fast, the green zestiness in this scent lasts for ages, thanks to the frankincense's depth. Please note this is a seasonal fragrance from Haus of Gloi, only available for Yule/Winter.
• NAVA Frankincense Ombré #4: A pure but complex frankincense blend, this combines multiple resin notes for a celebration of both the murky depth and the bright zinginess of frankincense. 

What's That Smell? OUD

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Oud, oudh, oude...however you spell it, it's a powerhouse note. It's one of those smells I think people don't realize they love until they've smelled it a few times. Personally, I even find my favorite oud perfumes will smell strange or off-putting on first application, then blossom into their true selves after a few minutes up to an hour. For that reason, oud can be intimidating, but I promise if you give it a shot, you'll find its richness and complexity superior to any other wood note.

Oud is bold and wet (ha.) It's not a well-behaved, smooth wooden scent like sandalwood or cedar. It can smell like bandaids or wood varnish at first, with a strange, almost animalic, tangled wildness. When I smell oud, I think of old wooden furniture that's gotten a little damp in storage, mixed with a sharp smokiness that gives a strong, black tangy smell. It sounds very unappealing when put this way, but the most "unsavory" notes are truly the ones that yield the complex, gorgeous richness that keeps a perfume from being a plain and boring scent. Oud can be used in small amounts or large, to great effect, but keep in mind if you're sampling an oud heavy perfume, you should reserve judgment until after the drydown.

Oud will generally retain its dark smoky character, but will lighten with wear. Instead of staying black and damp, it will warm up, round out, and glow. It's an immersive type of smell- imagine sitting on wooden furniture in a wood-shop, constructed entirely of wood, in the middle of the forest. Just the richest, most evocative woodsy smell. It pairs exceptionally well with any other wood note for added complexity, vanilla (always), and lighter notes like tea or fruit that need grounding.

In general, I believe Solstice Scents, Arcana, NAVA, and Possets do the best job showcasing oud and using it in interesting ways. Cocoa Pink gets an honorary mention for including it in unexpected fragrances with great results. 

Perfumes featuring oud:

• Arcana Honey & Venom: Here, oud is at its most stinky, debaucherous, and intimidating. The honey and amber notes are syrupy and rich, which, far from tempering the oud, just encourage its brashness. You have to be careful with this scent- not joking one tiny drop will last days and days. I have a sweater I wore that smelled of H&V for two months after I wore it one day. But if you're one for lusty, rich scents, you can't get much better than this oud and honey blend with spicy smokiness. 
• Solstice Scents Thornwood Thicket: The oud in this scent is barely recognizable. It's tame, warm, woodsy, and easy to love. It lends a real, sun-warmed feel to the woodsy, brambly scent. The juicy blackberry notes are made darker and more realistic with the dark botanical oud backing them up. Please note that TT is a seasonal fragrance in perfume oil. It's available in EDP form, but is only available as an oil in autumn.
• Possets Silver Oude: Possets' silver note, which is a delicate vanilla musk, does a great job of taming, but not strangling, its oud partner in this scent. If you've smelled Solstice Scents Manor, this is a very similar scent, but I prefer the Possets version because it has more richness and heart, where Manor can smell thin on me. The oud is slick and cool here because the silver note amps up that dampness I mentioned. Although there is a spicy bite, it's not too smoky. The cool musky vanilla sweetens it up very well and gives it a creaminess that oud doesn't have alone. This is a seasonal Yule scent.

What's That Smell? TUBEROSE

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Tuberose is the Big Mama of white floral notes. It's bold and distinctive. In large amounts, it can really take over a fragrance, but in small amounts it can lend a nice depth without killing the vibe. Tuberose can only be described as waxy, fatty, and lactonic (creamy, milk-like.) If you imagine crushing the petals in your hands, instead of getting a juicy, fresh fragrance, you'd get a rich and creamy type of scent. And actually, tuberose smells almost salty in large amounts. It's pretty much the flower version of coconut milk. It's dense, rich, and not sweet exactly, but very powerful. It smells distinctively tropical and summery. If I had to break it down into non-hand-wavy adjectives, I would say tuberose smells like a mix of salt, coconut milk, beeswax, a tiny pinch of sugar, and gardenia.

Some people report that tuberose scents make them nauseous. From my own experience, when my hormones are out of whack, my nose amplifies tuberose's natural saltiness and I end up with a very confused and upset nose. I think one of the big mistakes people make with tuberose is they expect it to smell like gardenia, which is tuberose's more well-behaved, sweet, prim cousin. If you go into a tuberose fragrance expecting something unusual and bold, you won't be disappointed. It's one of the most unique and characteristic floral notes around.

I must note, as with all white florals, tuberose does contain indolic nuances (no way around it, indoles smell like feces.) But if you've ever smelled a sexy, dirty human who smelled natural and good, you know that indolic/dirty notes shouldn't be feared. In tiny amounts, they can be a powerfully magnetic scent component, giving you great balance and interest in what could otherwise be a bland scent. The nausea/distaste many people associate with tuberose is, I believe, partially due to its indole content (like with jasmine) and partially because of its distinctive salty-sweetness. 

Perfumes featuring tuberose: 

• Ava Luxe Fleur d'Oranger: This fragrance uses the natural lusty, strong scent of tuberose to anchor the famously fleeting scent of orange blossom. Orange blossoms are technically white florals, but they are some of the hardest to capture in scent form. Many perfumers default to using an orange zest scent in their place, which you know, if you've ever smelled a real orange tree in bloom, is no substitute. The indolic, broad tuberose in this provides a booster in longevity and strength for the wimpier orange blossom/neroli notes and allows this perfume to retain its sweet, full scent for longer. 
• Solstice Scents Nightgown: Oh, Nightgown, you are a polarizing beast. Because this perfume uses sweeter florals like tiare (Tahitian gardenia) and an ultra-luxurious white chocolate/vanilla blend, it both amps up the sweetness of the tuberose, and starts a bit of a messy fight with the natural saltiness of the flower. I have noticed this scent definitely smells funky if I'm not in the right mood/hormonal state to appreciate it. It's a very tenuous/delicate balance of sweet and salty. If you catch it at the right moment, on the right day, in the right season, this scent is one of the most intoxicating, sensuous floral-gourmand blends in existence. Ever had salted caramel? It can go wrong, but it can go SO, SO right.
• Cocoa Pink Fleurs Siagne: This is a really easy-to-like blend. It's entirely composed of flowers: jasmine, tuberose, rose, and orange blossom, and the more distinctive sweetness of rose and jasmine keep the weirdness of tuberose in check. The orange blossom is the light top note, the rose the rich, pink base, and the tuberose the broad, smooth heart. I love this fragrance because the tuberose, which is such an assertive note, doesn't have to fight for prominence here, and thus it ends up being a very pleasant and tame component. 

What's That Smell? AMBER

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Via Flickr

Amber is one of the hardest notes to encapsulate, because it can represent so many different things in a fragrance. Simply put, amber is a hardened resin produced by trees, and the word "amber" can be used generally the way the word "resin" is. It's not specific to any species of tree or geographical/historical point. It's a mixture of a real thing and a "fantasy" note. It exists both in reality (if not as one specific thing) and in the mind of whoever is creating the perfume.

Amber almost always smells sweet and rich. It can smell more powdery and dry, with a pale white feel, or it can be drippy and dark like honey. You'll often see it used to sweeten blends where vanilla would be too assertive and musk would be too light. While it's a non-gourmand note (you couldn't eat a chunk of amber) its sweetness works great with foodie notes. Obviously, its origins as a tree resin make it a perfect complement to woodsy notes. When combined with florals, amber adds richness and smoothness without making you think of floral cakes.

If you see someone refer to White Amber as a note, they are attempting to showcase a pillowy, dry amber that smells like soft powdered sugar and flour mixed with the warm, fresh smell of clean sheets. It's a non-cloying sweet, smooth scent. If you see Golden Amber, Dark Amber, or Black Amber in the notes list, the perfumer is most likely referring to a more syrupy, sticky, honey-like amber note.

Perfumes featuring amber:

• Alkemia Carmen 7: A great example of the white amber type of note. The amber is used to create a sweet, but not overly sweet, background for the sugary praline, vanilla, and fruit notes. It maintains the same overall sweet feeling without feeling clunky or out of place, but it doesn't add more sweetness on top, which would take it to a cloying place. You also definitely get the clean-sheet vibe from the amber here, as the overall blend is warm and fresh-smelling at the same time.
• Arcana Genteel: This amber, described as a "dry amber," sits right between my descriptions of white and dark amber. It reminds me of a beige cashmere blanket, dry, soft, sweet, but neutral. The spice and wood notes in this play very well with the smooth amber, which is a bit dark but not wild and sticky. 
• Deconstructing Eden Lakshmi: The amber notes in this rose-dominant perfume are used mainly to create a soft, warm bed for the floral notes to float on. You get the impression of pale golden honey, liquid and rich, but not dark/sexy. Neutral and elegant, neither youthful nor mature.
• NAVA Mists of Arcacia: This scent is gothic, incensey, and woodsy. It uses a blend of cedar and sandalwood as its main notes, and keeps it from being too dark and strong by wrapping the base in blackened amber. Here, the amber serves to sweeten the blend, as it's more rich and honey-like, but the overall scent remains masculine, deep, and mysterious from the dominant wood notes. 

What's That Smell? VETIVER

In the "What's That Smell?" series,  I'll explain some of the less obvious perfume notes that crop up in many indie perfumes. Keep in mind my descriptions and comparisons are based on my own experiences and your impressions may not be the same. Perfume notes are NOT ingredients. They can be natural essences, artificial isolated compounds that imitate the natural substance, blended accords, or a combination. Therefore, the note you like in one perfume may be unrecognizable in another. As with all sensory, subjective things, your mileage may vary.

Vetiver is a grass-like plant that is often used to lend freshness, earthiness, or an overall "green" feel to a perfume. It is a unisex scent, and common in green perfumes that are focused on a plant-like or floral vibe. It can also be used to add surprising depth to sweeter or resinous perfumes, as it has a very natural and easy-to-like scent that is less disruptive or distinctive than something like patchouli. Vetiver is often used in smoky perfumes to evoke the unique mixture of damp heat that comes from a burning wood fire. Because it has a scent profile that straddles the line of light and dark, it stands up to stronger notes like incense and wood without getting lost the way a light floral scent would.

Vetiver is closest in scent to damp grass mixed with a tiny bit of soil. It's not a sunny, dry grass smell like hay. It definitely has darker earthy nuances, which is why it's such a nice blender for lighter green perfumes. Vetiver is less zesty than the smell of fresh flower stems (which can have a sour, bright smell) and it lacks the sweetness of something like fresh mint leaves. Because it has a soil-like quality, it can also be used to complement or recreate a wet-stone feeling

Perfumes featuring vetiver:

• NAVA OM NA: Eternity: The vetiver is not the star player here, but a backup to the sage note. This is sort of a surprising use of the note, because you wouldn't think to mix it with something as sweet and creamy as coconut milk, but it works. It doesn't fight with the more gourmand coconut notes, but it cuts the fatty sweetness and gives a little fresh feeling. It complements the sage, which is another herbal/green smell without overpowering the sage's more distinctive scent. Mixed with the heavy Dragon's Blood, it definitely makes me think of a dark, damp stone temple filled with offerings to the gods.
• Deconstructing Eden Gentian House: A very masculine and fresh use of the note, this scent features vetiver strongly and uses it excellently as an atmospheric note. Instead of smelling like a handful of plants, the vetiver in Gentian House conjures the image of a house in a field with all the windows and doors thrown open, the scent of wet grass and earth drifting in and purifying the home. The lavender and violets are both herbaceous/green floral scents that complement the vetiver well, and the smoke in here is also a classic pairing. This is probably the most unusual AND harmonious use of vetiver of any perfume in my collection.
• Long Winter Farm Campfire: This is a standard, but excellent example of how well vetiver works to make smoke notes come alive. You know that smell of the winter air, just after the rain/snow when the whole world is soaked-through, and you can smell everyone's chimneysmoke? That's what vetiver and smoke smell like together. It's one of my all-time favorite IRL scents, and Campfire recreates it spectacularly. No sweetness or florals in here, just a roaring fire in the middle of a damp forest.

If You Like...Then You May Like...Incense Edition

In the If You Like...Then You May Like...posts, I'll take a scent category and suggest specific perfumes within that category that certain people might be drawn to. If you usually ignore a certain category because you think you don't like it, you might be surprised! I think there's pretty much something for everyone to be found in each of the perfume families.

via naturaleinfiniti

Incense Edition

Incense is a word tossed around by a lot of amateur perfume hobbyists. It can often be found in newcomers' "definitely no" lists, and calls up images of high school bedrooms, head shops, and grandmothers (if you're Asian!) Oftentimes, I'll hear niche/indie perfume newbies complain that "every scent in my order from X shop smelled like incense!!" However, incense perfumes can be incredibly sophisticated, unusual, comforting, or exciting, depending on the blend. There are a thousand ways to describe incense, and even more individual "ingredients" or notes that can make up an incense blend. Some of the more popular ones include frankincense, myrrh, Dragon's Blood, Nag Champa, and amber/resin/wood notes. 

But incense doesn't smell like just one thing. Even if you consider yourself a lover of, say, only light florals, allowing your nose to experience a variety rich incense scents will allow you to better develop your sense of smell. Scents that all smelled the same to you when you first tried them may smell distinct and amazing after getting used to heavier smells. Incense scents are usually long-lasting as well, due to the heavy nature of the scent components, so if you find perfumes disappear too quickly, consider adding some incense blends to your collection!

If you like...Orientals, you may like...heavier incense blends containing Dragon's Blood, Nag Champa, and floral notes.

If you already like classic Orientals like Shalimar, you're in luck because you are already a budding incense-lover! The amber, wood, spice, and subtle floral notes in the Oriental family are commonly found in incense scents, and they make up some of the richest and most luxurious incense perfumes. Incense is probably already in your favorites category, or you just didn't realize you were missing out on something that's right up your alley. 

Notes to look out for:

• Oudh
• Amber
• Spice
• Dragon's Blood
• Nag Champa
• Jasmine
• Smoke
• Myrrh
• Benzoin
• Kyphi

Product Suggestions:

• NAVA Osirian Purnima Line: One of the most excellent and well-developed incense lines out there in the indie perfume world, this line has a wide variety of incense blends. They all smell distinct from one another, but they share a rich, soft, purring incense accord that is browned, blackened, spicy, and smooth. For a traditional-incense lover, my first pick is OP Anubis, which has a dark, honeyed amber note that wraps sinuously around the incense heart of this perfume. (Note, this is a seasonal collection that has been around for several months. It may return or stay permanent, or it may go away.) Second pick is OP Thoth, which mixes guaiacwood (like a less scary oudh) with kyphi (kyphi is a catchall for ancient incense scents, traditionally Greek or Egyptian) for a spicy, sweet, thick incense smell.
• Alkemia Hex: Although this only lists a few traditional incense notes, the spice and resin really make this a dark, sweet incense winner. The night-blooming floral notes lend a sweet lightness without taking away from the richness.
• Arcana Honey and Venom: This is an adventurous pick: the smoky dank oudh will shock you at first, but if you let yourself breathe it in, it blooms into something more complex and enchanting than a typical woodsy scent. The kyphi in this is spicy, heavy, and sweet. This is a blackened, assertive incense scent that develops into the richest, sweetest, warm perfume.

If you like...fresh scents, you may like...brighter incense blends with notes like frankincense, wood, amber, patchouli, vetiver, and fruit.

If you consider yourself a lover of fresh/green scents, you may be a fan of unisex/men's fragrances, and you may be a newcomer to the indie scene. Perhaps you're used to the light, citrusy EDPs that a lot of mainstream brands carry. Maybe you think that the most inoffensive, light perfumes are the only ones you can tolerate. In reality, the zestiness and freshness you are used to in your perfumes can be found in incense blends, they are just made deeper and more complex with the addition of darker woodsy and resin notes. Frankincense in particular is a note some people are unfamiliar with, but is one of the best ingredients for green perfume lovers. It's a tree resin, but it smells fresh, piney, zesty, and lemony, rather than the sweet honey you might associate resin scents with.

Notes to look out for:

• Frankincense
• Amber
• Cedar
• Teak
• Sandalwood
• Patchouli
• Vetiver
• Fruit
• Oudh (used sparingly)
• Herbs/herbal flowers like lavender
• Moss

Product Suggestions:

• Deconstructing Eden Gentian House: The ultimate fresh/green incense scent. This smells like a witch cleaning her house on a rainy spring day and burning sacred incense. The vetiver and herby floral notes make this scent unisex, fresh, green, but the opium smoke and frankincense make it an unmistakably lovely incense scent. See full review.
• Deconstructing Eden Black No. 1: This scent utilizes patchouli to its fullest. Patchouli is in the mint family, and is truly not as scary as some people think. It's dark, zesty, a little stinky in an interesting way, and totally complex. In this scent, the patchouli is raw, damp, and makes me think a rainy forest and muddy clearings, mingled with hazy spicy incense smoke. See full review.
• Haus of Gloi Snow Wolf: The pine-like zestiness of frankincense is on full display here, accented with evergreen notes and anchored by deep, dry cedar. A masculine scent, rich, but cold and fresh at the same time. If you think incense has to smell like fire or smoke, you're missing out! (Note: this scent is seasonally available as a winter/Yule scent.)
• NAVA Eternal Egypt Anniversary: The most incredible blend of aquatic(!) and resin notes. This is the most indescribably fresh, sexy, and cool-yet-warm scent. Everyone who smells it loves it, and it's especially good for men. It's like if Davidoff Cool Water were sophisticated and interesting (the bookish guy you meet in your lit class vs. the dbag who hits you up over the keg.)

If you like...fruity or floral scents, you may like...sweet, complex incense blends with notes like rose, jasmine, carnation, amber, myrrh, berries, and vanilla.

If you're normally a fruity/floral kinda girl/guy, you might share characteristics with people who like fresh/green scents. Either you are sensitive to strong smells, are used to very tame mainstream blends, or just like to smell pretty. Nothing wrong with that! Incense can add something mysterious and nuanced to your favorite floral and fruity notes, though. Berries and dark fruits make a wonderful accent for incense. They're not too light, but they bring some freshness and their juiciness complements the dark nature of incense. Myrrh is a fabulous incense resin that, like its cousin frankincense, doesn't smell like your typical idea of "resin." Far from being a plain woody smell, myrrh has a rich, fruity, sweet honey scent that is dynamite with berries and florals.

Notes to look out for:

• Myrrh
• Amber
• Jasmine
• Rose
• Vanilla
• Berries
• Bergamot/citrus
• Spice

Product Suggestions:

• Solstice Scents Thornwood Thicket: This fruity-incense scent mingles dark crushed blackberries with a very rich, dark incense background. The oudh and moss make this a very dark incense scent, but the fresh sweet berries make it more wearable for someone who enjoys fruit scents.
• Cocoa Pink Spell Caster: The myrrh works exceptionally well with mulberries and amber here. It's syrupy and juicy at the same time, golden and cozy.
• BPAL The Caterpillar: The rich floral notes in here (carnation, jasmine) mixed with the fresh vetiver and bergamot are a great balance for the heavy incense. You end up with a delightful mix of light and dark, fresh and deep.
• NAVA OP: Bastet: From the Osirian Purnima line mentioned above, this rose scent is slinky, spicy, sexy, and fruity. It smells like rose petal jam, Turkish Delight, and a whisper of incense in a luxurious, exclusive storefront. 

If you like...gourmand scents, you may like...sweet, powdery or syrupy incense blends that utilize chocolate, spice, sugar, honey, Nag Champa, and smoke.

Powdery can be a dirty word in the perfume world. People use it to describe scents that go flat or cloyingly-sweet, and they're often thinking of the ubiquitous, awful baby powder scent. Powdery in this case means something more like the scent/vibe of flour or powdered sugar. Light, fluffy, smooth, soft, and sweet. Nag Champa is a great note to look for if you like gourmands- its soft fluffiness mimics cakey or cookie notes, and it's complemented very nicely by spicy and food notes. Syrupy amber that is more on the honey side (rather than the dry, woodsy side) also does well in this category. You'll find that rich resin notes aren't as different from your comforting bakery scents as you'd think. Note that overt smoke notes do very well in this category because smoke + baked goods mingle in a very natural, harmonious way. Vanilla, obviously, is a stellar partner to any resin or incense/smoke scent.

Notes to look out for:

• Amber
• Copal
• Honey
• Kyphi
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• Marshmallow
• Nag Champa
• Dragon's Blood

Product Suggestions:

• OHWTO Venom: This could be filed under floral as well, but the floral-incense (Nag Champa) is used with the almond-amaretto and it ends up smelling like a powdered, sweet, floral cookie that you're eating, with just the memory of smoke lingering around you.
• Solstice Scents Foxcroft Fairgrounds: A great intro scent for those who are REALLY shy about incense. The main notes in this are the cotton candy and funnel cake, mingled with a great fresh air note, and a bare wisp of incense. Very easy to wear, great for wetting your whistle on incense scents. Full review here.
• Solstice Scents Smoky Mountain Mallow: A must-have for anyone who even vaguely enjoys marshmallow scents. This transforms the campfire treat into something more sophisticated and unusual by adding rich smoke, lapsang souchong tea, heaps of resin notes, and a dose of dark wood. Excellent for pushing your gourmand-only tastes further into the dark, complex world of incense perfumes. 
• NAVA Queen Amber: The honey is the star here, and it's accented by gingerbread-like spices which make this smell cakey, rich, and gooey. You can practically taste the syrup dripping from this, and you can absolutely smell the rich, dark, crumbly incense accompanying it. 

Comparison Post: Pumpkin #7 vs. Golden Morning

In comparison posts, I compare indie scents with similar notes lists. This allows me to cull my collection so that I have no repeats, and it may also be helpful for other people to decide which sounds most appealing.

The Contestants: 

Nocturne Alchemy Pumpkin #7 (Amber Pumpkin perfumed with 7 rich exotic Amber notes to create the ultimate Amber perfume base for this Pumpkin infused scent. Spices of fig and raw pumpkin swim in a vat of decadent Sandalwood)

Cocoa Pink Golden Morning (Cool vanilla wrapped around honeyed, pale pumpkin gently grounded with white oak, tonka bean finished with the barest hint of copal.)

Scent Characteristics: P#7 is woodsy, smooth, pale, and warm like a house with a fire crackling in the hearth. It's more sweet-wood than sticky-resin, and the amber notes here are powdery and dry like finished wood, and they complement the sandalwood perfectly. Tiny bit of spice, but not edible spice. This is a slightly fresh smell, like fresh pumpkin and sawn wood, but not "raw" smelling. GM is syrupy, resinous, and slinky. It's mostly a very golden, sticky honey note with complementary deeper resinous wood notes. The pumpkin is there, smooth and non-spicy, but like cooked pumpkin purée.  

How similar are they?: Not very. P#7 is a lot subtler and more neutral. GM is vivacious, sexy, and sweet. P#7 makes me think of a buttoned-up but pretty librarian, and GM is her younger sister who dresses very scandalously. They're related but they don't really resemble each other. They do share a common pale, sweet, smooth pumpkin note that's delicious in both, and the wood pops out of both, but it's made more dry in P#7 and more wet/sticky in GM.

Sillage: Both have very good sillage. Something that's characteristic of NAVA ambers in particular is that they will strengthen the more they sit on your skin. Sometimes I can't smell a NAVA amber when I first apply, then 10 minutes later, it's surrounding me and filling my nostrils. I will say it's hard to overdo a NAVA Amber, and P#7 is no exception. It's so pale and smooth that it never screams, even if you overapply. On the other hand, GM's big honey note has POW sillage and really wraps itself around you immediately. You can overdose easily, especially as it's a sweet scent, so best to apply sparingly. I love strongly-scented perfumes, so I'm definitely ok with that, but use caution.

Longevity: Both have great longevity. P#7 lasts 8-10 hours, no problem, but it does dry down into a more subtle skin scent thereafter. GM will last until you wash it off, or 36-48 hours, whichever comes first. 

Destashing any?: Nope, they are different and both lovely. GM is the perfect cold-weather sexy scent. Not too foodie, but just sweet enough. P#7 is an amazing daytime scent, and even though it's a pumpkin one, it's not so bold as to be an autumn-only scent. 

Comparison Post: Cocoa Pink Strawberry Noel vs. Vampire's Lament

In comparison posts, I compare indie scents with similar notes lists. This allows me to cull my collection so that I have no repeats, and it may also be helpful for other people to decide which sounds most appealing.

The Contestants: 

Cocoa Pink Strawberry Noel (A perfectly balanced fresh strawberry that smells like real berries (not plasticy bubblegum strawberry), blended with VBN.)

Cocoa Pink Vampire's Lament (Luscious strawberry milkshake essence spiked with white amber, metallic white musk then finished off with a splash of creamy vanilla.)

How do they stack up? Strawberry Noel is very sweet, fruity in a fresh way, and a bit simple. It smells like you infused vanilla whipped cream with the essence of fresh macerated strawberries. Vampire's Lament smells exactly like strawberry ICE CREAM, which is missing from SN. It has a cold, creamy smell that is just exquisite. Less of a vanilla bean scent than in SN. VL also has a lot of musk and amber, which lend a more perfumey feel and make it feel a lot more sophisticated. SN is more of the type of scent a younger girl would favor, or maybe a good scent for a shampoo or bath product. It's very pretty, not synthetic or cheap-smelling, but less elegant. 

How similar are they? Not very similar at all! Besides having the basic foodie/berry notes in common, one smells like a lovely simple fruity lotion, and the other smells like a sort of sexy fruity, grown-up perfume. The strawberry in both is nice, but the strawberry in SN is very fresh, and the strawberry in VL is more like the flavor of strawberry ice cream.

Sillage: I have both in Cocoa Pink's EDP format, which is very high in sillage. Equally good.

Longevity: Ditto for above. Love Cocoa Pink's EDPs, they last forever.

Destashing any?: If I were to destash one, it would be Strawberry Noel. I like it enough to keep it for now, but I might destash if it gets no love come spring. I would definitely repurchase this in a hair or body product, though, as I feel it would be well-suited to that format. I do prefer Vampire's Lament as it's more sophisticated.